1. Field
The present disclosure relates to gas turbine engines, and more particularly to turbofan engines with offset cores, for example.
2. Description of Related Art
Traditionally, gas turbine engines include a turbine that drives a fan to draw air into the engine as the turbine rotates. The air is typically sectioned between a bypass duct and a core flow path that leads through a compressor section and a combustor section. Products of this combustion pass across turbine rotors which are driven to rotate, and in turn rotate the compressor and fan section. Historically, the fan and compressor section have been mounted concentrically. Traditionally, one turbine section drove both the compressor section and the fan at the same speed. This has been improved upon with a geared turbofan and two and three spool engines that allow for some uncoupling between turbine speed and fan and compressor speed. More recently it has been proposed to considerably increase the diameter of the fan section and reduce the core flow path and engine core, e.g. the compressor section, in an effort to improve engine efficiency. As the core size decreases relative to the fan size, it tends to be difficult to design with a large turbine shaft passing down the center of a small compressor section.
Such conventional methods and systems have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purpose. However, there is still a need in the art for improved gas turbine engines.